Noll Set

Or

Grounded Chuck

(Props to Mark)

Chuck Noll, the man who stuck football fans everywhere with that moron Terry Bradshaw by building an idiot-proof system en route to 4 Super Bowl wins as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, has died at the age of 82. In 1969, with Joe Paterno firmly committed as an enabler at Penn State, the woeful Steelers tapped the 1968 NFL Champion Baltimore Colts’ defensive coordinator as their next head coach. The team responded by losing 13 of 14 in his first year. The Steelers’ draft positions put the team in position to rebuild, and every year the Steelers’ draft was a preview of Induction Weekend at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, starting with Joe Greene as Noll’s first pick, and including Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Jack Ham, and the unprecedented or repeated 1974 draft that produced 4 Hall of Famers: Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, Jack Lambert and Mike Webster. Despite his success and unmatched 4 Super Bowl titles, Noll didn’t win Coach of the Year honors until 1989 when he took a team that lost its first 2 games by a combined score of 92-10 to the playoffs, winning its first game.